Finding perfection in Palmerston North

Mar 11, 2019

While the building boom has rapidly enveloped cities around New Zealand, there remains a place that’s growing its own way – and Aaron Shirriffs loves to be a part of its process.

Born and bred in rural Palmerston North, the Manawatu-Wanganui region has always held a special place in his heart and the Landmark Homes co-franchisee has relished being part of the area’s housing growth.

Pictured: Aaron Shirriffs and business partner, Ryan Coombes

“It’s always been viewed with the stigma of being a conservative, slow-moving area, but in recent times that has worked in its favour. Palmy (and the surrounding towns) have been able to grow at a steady pace and it has resulted in a very appealing region for everyone to flock too!”

Growing up on a farm, Aaron travelled after school and then settled in to start his first business when he was 19, working in project management, landscaping and construction throughout his career. In the past five years, Aaron has been part of the Landmark Homes family.

“At the time, I was entertaining the concept of moving into residential housing, so it just made every ounce of sense to join an established, professional and trusted organisation like Landmark Homes.”

In his time with Landmark Homes Manawatu & Wanganui, Aaron has built a number of stunning homes that have brought joy to their clients. He also built the award-winning Rata showhome, which took home a Gold and the Local Category at the Registered Master Builders House of the Year Awards.

He says building a successful home comes down to ensuring you have a successful and honest relationship with the person you are building home for.

“We set the bar high, in regards to client satisfaction and providing our new owners with a home of the highest calibre. If there are issues, we pride ourselves on getting them solved and continuing things without our clients (generally) even needing to know about them, ensuring a stress-free journey.

“That said, I believe I am a genuine, honest and transparent person. I’d much prefer to have a challenging conversation early on with someone than keep the information from them, only to have it snowball into a complete disaster later on!”

While working with clients to create their dream home is a pleasurable and satisfying experience, working with a high-quality team to achieve this is also one of the reasons why Aaron loves his job.

“I’ve somehow managed to be fortunate enough to have the most exceptional team working with me to manage the operations of this business. From our sales and design team, to admin and the construction manager, everyone is the best at what they do and all have sensational personalities to boot.”

When it comes to home design, Aaron admits his own approach is “simplistic and ordinary”, with a considered focus on indoor and outdoor use of space.

“My own home is a tidy, spacious weatherboard home with lots of outdoor living and attention given toward making it a family home for my wife and two kids.

“I like having an outdoor area that ties in directly to the interior living space as seamlessly as possible, plus I am a huge fan of features that revolve around well-designed lighting, thought-out acoustics and integrated AV systems.”

In fact, technological advancements in home design is a trend that will keep evolving, adds Aaron.

“We can see automation becoming an integral part of future builds more and more.

“Heating/cooling is also being better thought out. Instead of monstrous or numerous heating/cooling systems, the focus is moving toward mitigating the need for these – for example, Low E glass, aspect control and natural ventilation systems are all now playing a part.”

While the numerous home design choices can seem overwhelming (and the process to build your dream home), Aaron says their focus is on creating a home you’ll be smitten with, and suits you and your needs down to a tee.

“Building a new house is an emotive and stressful exercise no matter what way you spin it.

“We go out of our way to take as much of that away from it for you, and replace it with organised professionalism, communication and expertise. We would hope that, while building a Landmark, our clients enjoy it as much as we do!”